Science is a cute, cuddly bunny: pet it

Light my Lightbulb

I want to switch on my laptop, AC, and smartphone and I want to use them as much as I want: guilt-free. And, I’m not alone; Malta’s energy demand has steadily increased till it peaked at around 430MW a few years ago. Don’t despair. Malta has exciting plans to build a wind farm that would adsorb a large chunk of this demand.

Light My Lightbulb (poster: Nicole Diacono)

Interested? Come along to the next Malta Café Scientifique talk (in collaboration with Green Drinks Malta) by Dr Ing. Tonio Sant (Faulty of Engineering, University of Malta) called ‘Light my Lightbulb’ at 7.15pm 12th April, Music Room, St. James Cavalier.

The Maltese Islands are a tricky place to harvest wind energy. Space is limited and our seas are deep, so deep that large wind farms are only possible at depths of around 70 meters. Offshore wind farms already exist, but this depth presents huge technical challenges. These wind turbines need to be adapted to Malta’s unique conditions.

One major problem is storms. No one wants their multi-million investment to be swallowed by the waves. To prevent this scenario the speaker and his team are researching how to properly anchor these giant turbines.

Wind turbines also need to operate under the lightest of breezes. Its blades need to turn and provide energy on calm days, which depends on their design. This is another research area of Dr Sant, whose finding will be important for Malta to develop wind farms suited to the Island’s needs. It will let us use our AC without worrying too much about our effect on the planet.

‘Light my Lightbulb’ will be held at the Music Room, St. James Cavalier, at 7.15pm, Thursday 12th by Malta Cafe Scientifique in collaboration with Green Drinks Malta and supported by The Malta Chamber of Scientists and the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector. The talk will be given by Dr Ing. Tonio Sant, followed by an open discussion. Email maltacafescientifique@gmail.com or find us on Facebook for further information. Entrance is free. No special science background is required.